In The Current Issue:– Model railway company Hornby takes classic hobby brands into digital age– Banker’s startup experience feathers the nest for Starling Bank– Should businesses upgrade to Windows 10?
Download Current Issue

The High Court has banned UK scientist Flavio Garcia from publishing an academic paper on how he cracked the security codes used to start cars, including Porsches, Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Audis.

The interim injunction against Garcia, a lecturer in computer science at the University of Birmingham, and two other cryptography experts from a Dutch university was granted after a request by the parent company of Volkswagen, according to the Guardian.

The judgement was handed down three weeks ago, but has now become part of a wider discussion about car manufacturers' responsibilities relating to car security, the paper said.

Mr Justice Birss ruled that publication of the Megamos Crypto algorithm that allows the car to verify the identity of the ignition key using radio frequency identification (RFID) could lead to the mass theft of vehicles.

Volkswagen told the court the system was used in a number of mass market vehicles from several manufacturers.

The car maker went to court after the scientists had refused to publish a redacted version of their paper on dismantling the Megamos Crypto at the Usenix Security Symposium in Washington DC in August.

0 comments

E-Mail

Username / Password

Password

By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Privacy